The present disclosure relates to apparatus for separating media from a uniform sheet and more particularly to a separating apparatus which bends a first portion of a semi-compliant material in at least two directions to separate an individual medium from the remainder of the material. Subsequent media are separated sequentially in a similar manner as the material moves through the separating apparatus.
The advent of thermal printers and the like have revolutionized the industry of efficiently and cheaply inscribing indicia or other identificational material on numerous types of media ranging from clothing, plastics and ceramics to soft/ductile metals such as aluminum. The types of indicia range from simple company logos and company advertising materials to complex bar coding systems which track inventory, expiration dates and consumer spending trends. The printers typically print the indicia on blank continuous sheets or strips which are fed through the printers and later either stacked in sheets or collected in large rolls for subsequent separation. In order to save on manufacturing costs and to facilitate transportation and storage of the media after it has been imprinted, the indicia is typically repeated (or arranged, e.g., sequenced or grouped) on the sheet or roll and the individual medium are later separated for distribution or use.
Such labels and tags are used by many industries including retail, medical manufactured products and the horticultural industry.
One particular industry which has benefited from the use of the thermal printer is the plant growing industry which typically places plant information tags on various plants to quickly and cheaply identify the various plant varieties and keep an accurate inventory of all the plants in a particular greenhouse or farm. Generally, the plant tags are made from a semi-compliant material such as plastic which tends to withstand environmental conditions and various pesticides typically used in the floral and plant industries.
As mentioned above, since the manufacturers of plant tags typically imprint the tags on large sheets or rolls for transportation and storage purposes, which must be separated later by the grower, wholesaler, nursery, or florist and placed with the appropriate plants for identification or inventory purposes. As can be appreciated, organizations who typically order these plant tags in the thousands are stuck with the task of manually separating each plant tag from the large sheet or roll before the tags can be used which is both tedious and time consuming.
Typically, the prior art devices of the past have employed complex cutting and scoring systems to separate the tags from the remainder of the material. As can be appreciated, these systems require considerable maintenance, i.e., sharpening of the cutting blades, which can be both time consuming and costly. Some tag manufactures have tried to simplify the manual tag separation process by providing a series of scores or notches along each individual tag on the sheets to facilitate separation. However, although simplified, the manual separation of these plant tags remains tedious and costly.
Thus, there exists a need to develop an apparatus which quickly and easily separates individual medium from a continuous sheet or roll in an efficient manner without requiring frequent maintenance of internal component parts, i.e., sharpening of cutting blades.
Accordingly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for separating a stock of semi-compliant material into discrete portions which includes a housing having a drive mechanism disposed therein which bends the material in a first direction thus forming a line of weakening along the material and subsequently bends the material in a second direction which separates a portion from the remaining material along the line of weakening. Preferably, a feeder feeds the material into the drive mechanism of the housing.
In one embodiment, the drive mechanism includes a plurality of rollers and belts and a variable-speed motor which controls the speed of the rollers and/or belts of the drive mechanism. Preferably, a series of notches or score marks are disposed at various positions along the material stock to facilitate separation of the tags from the remainder of the material.
In another embodiment, the housing includes at least one drive mechanism which moves the material stock through the housing about a first flex point and a second flex point. Preferably, the first flex point bends the material in a first direction as the material moves through the housing thus forming at least one line of weakening along the material and the second flex point bends the material in a second direction thus separating the material along the line of weakening into individual portions (tags). Preferably, the drive mechanism includes a belt which has an inner facing surface treated with a silicon-based or other non stick finish to facilitate handling and separation. In yet another embodiment, the drive mechanism includes two sets of rollers which are connected by a two belts which carry the material through the housing about the two flex points to separate the tags from the remaining material.
In yet another embodiment, the flex points are selectively adjustable to accommodate for differently-sized material and/or the diameter of the flex points are selectively expandable and contractible to adjust to the dimensions, i.e., width, of the tags. Preferably, the housing has a base disposed on an angle to facilitate dispersement of the tags once separated. The base can also be treated with a silicon-based or other non stick finish material to also facilitate dispersement of the tags once separated.
Preferably, the drive mechanism includes belts or chains and is driven by a fixed or a variable speed motor which can be independently operated and/or connected to an existing printer, imprinter and/or other fabricating device.
The present disclosure also includes a method of separating a stock of semi-compliant material into discrete portions which includes the steps of:
a) feeding the material into a housing having at least one drive mechanism which moves the material through said housing;
b) bending the material in a first direction thus forming a line of weakening along the material; and
c) bending the material in a second direction which separates a portion of the material from the remaining material along the line of weakening.